Category: Today

Sajad Lone holding trump card in J&K govt formation?

Editor

Peoples Conference has ‘support’ of 15 disgruntled PDP leaders With the PDP facing an existential crisis and the National Conference (NC) trying hard to hold on to its legislators, both the regional parties are fearing a threat in Sajad Gani Lone’s Peoples Conference, which has two MLAs. With PDP legislators showing open defiance against the party and NC leader Omar Abdullah repeatedly seeking dissolution of the Legislative Assembly to keep his flock together, Lone is holding all his cards close to his chest and not giving a whiff to the…

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‘You don’t need any security as you are our guests’: Hizb welcomes Amarnath pilgrims

Editor

Two days ahead of the beginning of the annual Amarnath yatra, the Hizbul Mujahideen militant group in Kashmir has apparently said it has no plans to attack the pilgrimage. An audio message believed to be from Hizbul Mujahideen operational commander Riyaz Ahmad Naikoo sought to assure pilgrims that they could go on the yatra this year even without security cover. “You don’t need any security as you are our guests,’’ Naikoo said in the 15-minute audio clip being circulated on social media. It also stated Kashmiri Pandits who migrated from…

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Security forces working to stop recruitments at funerals of militants in Kashmir

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The problem with such gatherings is that sentiments get amplified, say experts. People have used such occasions to make provocative speeches and glorify the “sacrifices” of militants. The Jammu and Kashmir police will act against those who eulogise dead militants in funerals, making provocative speeches which the police believes motivates young people to join militant groups. “We have devised a strategy to deal with these gatherings,” said state police chief SP Vaid. Vaid refused to discuss specifics of the strategy but a Srinagar-based official in the security forces said the…

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PDP & BJP era comes to an end, BJP pulls out of J&K coalition govt with PDP

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BJP pulled out of the alliance with Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP in Jammu and Kashmir. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday announced it was leaving the Jammu and Kashmir government, ending its alliance with chief minister Mehbooba Mufti People’s Democratic Party (PDP). “It has become untenable for the BJP to continue with the alliance in Jammu and Kashmir,” said senior BJP leader Ram Madhav at a press conference in Delhi. The two parties formed a coalition government in 2015 after elections threw up a hung assembly, but they were ideologically divided…

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CRPF vehicle ran over demonestrating crowd, One dead one critical

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Vehicle enters Nowhatta, runs over two youth Driver sensitively took vehicle out of crowd: CRPF Notwithstanding the new deployment plan of J&K Police for Friday congregation prayers at Jamia Masjid, a vehicle of the paramiltiary CRPF entered in Nowhatta area of Srinagar downtown after Friday prayers and ran over two youth, injuring one critically. Soon after Friday prayers, youth started a protest demonstration during which a CRPF vehicle passed by Nowhatta area and ran over two youth, injuring one critically. The critically injured youth was identified as Muhammad Younis of…

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Geelani says no talks with India till it accepts Kashmir as a ‘Dispute’

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On Thursday morning, the Jammu and Kashmir government allowed a seminar hosted by Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, to commemorate the 140th birth anniversary of Sir Muhammad Iqbal. It was a rare occasion for Tehreek-e-Hurriyat activists, majority of whom were arrested after last year’s unrest, to huddle under a single roof and break the bread together. There were many firsts in the conference. Geelani broke down on seeing his long-time associate and Hurriyat general secretary MA Sehrai after ‘several years’, despite living in the same city, due to…

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Top Officials, Politicians, Spymasters advocates for Kashmir talks

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Senior government officials from across India who attended a security meet chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday suggested holding a dialogue with the separatists as well as Pakistan to ease tensions in the Kashmir Valley and along the border. Mr. Singh sought the views of top intelligence and State government officials and the Army at the two-day National Security Strategies Conference, organised by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) in Delhi, and the majority of them were of the view that Hurriyat should be roped in for talks, a top…

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Objecting to army’s Iftar 4 persons injured in Shopian after soldiers fired into a gathering

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Four girls were injured, one of them critically, after soldiers fired into a gathering of villagers who were objecting to the army setting up a stall for Iftaar in Shopian on Monday. Kashmir Post learnt 34 Rashtriya Rifles battalion of the army had set up an Iftaar refreshment stall outside a mosque in DK Pora, Imam Sahab area of Shopian. However, local residents said they objected to the stall set up by the army without informing them. This triggered a heated exchange between the people and the involved soldiers, which…

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Truce a cosmetic measure, solve Kashmir Issue permanently: Separatists

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Terming the Ramzan ceasefire a “cosmetic measure”, separatists on Thursday sought a “comprehensive plan” to resolve the Kashmir issue either through implementing the UN resolution or negotiations between India, Pakistan and the Kashmiri leadership. This statement was made by joint resistance leaders Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik during a seminar on ‘Responsibility of Leadership in Safeguarding the Sanctity of Martyrdom’, which was organised by the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference headed by Mirwaiz at its Rajbagh headquarters. Earlier the duo held a meeting with hardline Hurriyat leader…

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Govt unlikely to accept ceasefire for Ramadan and Amarnath Yatra

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Officials in the home ministry, army, and Jammu and Kashmir police said an internal ceasefire is laden with risks, while the enforcement of a ceasefire with Pakistan is contingent on the latter’s behavior. The Mehbooba Mufti government on Thursday continued to push for a unilateral ceasefire with terror groups in the state and along the border with Pakistan during the holy month of Ramzan, but New Delhi, while it will consider the issue, is unlikely to accept the proposal, particularly with regard to internal operations, several officials familiar with the development…

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